


The Shaky Foundations of Those Left Behind

by Great_Shark_Lamia



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Core Four - Tony Pepper Rhodey Happy, F/F, F/M, M/M, Not Steve Friendly, Not Zombies!, Team Iron Man, The Bots!, not team Cap friendly, relationships tbd - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 05:49:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20092288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Great_Shark_Lamia/pseuds/Great_Shark_Lamia
Summary: Fresh back on Earth Nebula and Tony have no time to rest as they along with their crafted group of heroes need to tackle the newest issue left in the wake of Thanos' snap. The dead have swapped places with the living.“So what you’re telling me is that everyone that poofed in the snap is in the underworld. And everyone who was in the underworld is up here. With all of us.” Tony sounded incredulous. No one could blame him. “That those we know that have passed are all back. All of the bad people that we have fought against, all the people that have been lost to my mistakes; Peters parents and…and my parents.”





	The Shaky Foundations of Those Left Behind

“So what you’re telling me is that everyone that poofed in the snap is in the underworld. And everyone who was in the underworld is up here. With all of us.” Tony sounded incredulous. No one could blame him. “That those we know that have passed are all back. All of the bad people that we have fought against, all the people that have been lost to my mistakes; Peters parents and…and my parents.”

“Yes. Well to an extent.” Pepper breathed out a loud sigh. “Everyone that has been killed in the last 40 years, those that have yet to be put to rest are back up here with the rest of us. Hela, the Goddess of the Underworld, and Thanos’ reason for all of this, met with the leaders of our world, there she told us all that she could. That the magic that was responsible for this was unstable, and that it couldn’t actually wipe out all of these people without something to be given back. And so that was the trade. She says that there’s nothing that she can do, she doesn’t take souls, she only cares for them.” 

There was a moment of silence and then Pepper continued. 

“And it gets worse. The souls have to go somewhere. And there’s a system. Hela said that she can’t just hold the souls, there is a figurative line in her land, and everyone waits in it, though they are unaware of this. She process so many souls a day, creating room for more, and keeping the scales intact. To stop processing would tip the scales, and she doesn’t know what would happen.”

“So what you’re saying is that the longer it takes us, the more people that become properly gone. Dead. Never to return,” Tony said.

“Yes. It isn’t all bad though, there is a silver lining.”

“Oh thank fucking God,” Tony muttered. 

Across from him Rhodey uttered, “Amen.”

“Hela has paper work that go with each soul, this is how they are given their correct placement, and on that paperwork is their history in a short blurb. A good and bad chart so to say. Hela says that she will work through the bad. Sending them where they need to go, but that can only last for so long. This isn’t a permanent fix and soon there will be an unbalance. She will need to level out who goes where eventually. Keep the scales level and keep the fates happy.” Her posture belied the seriousness of the conversation but she was tired and relived to have Tony home. She would allow herself this moment of relief even while talking about the apocalyptic nature of their world outside.

“Alright then,” Rhodey muttered. “There are so many problems with this.”

“And how do we fix this, so far there have been talks but nothing concrete has been decided.” Happy said. 

“We need to get the gauntlet off of Thanos.“ Tony said. “Before it kills any innocent people. That doesn’t fix the issue of where all the dead people are going to go. They don’t have houses anymore.”

“Right now the government is collecting them all and holding them. In two days they will be released into government housing, or back with their family and friends if they have any. They have been guaranteed and tested and everyone is okay, it’s like they never died.” 

“Ok then. What measures are we taking about getting everyone back to where they should be?” Tony asked. 

“Nothing has been decided yet, but now that you’re back we can get the ball rolling,” Rhodey said making eye contact with first Pepper and then Happy. 

Tony clapped his hands, rising off the couch slowly. “Well then, me and our secret weapon are going to go and clean up and rest, tomorrow we’ll deal with everything. If someone could call a meeting then that would be helpful, we need to talk about getting Thanos as soon as possible.” 

Pepper nodded her head, already pulling her phone out of her handbag as she rose from her slouched position, putting her closer to Rhodey and further away from the long empty expanse of couch that Tony had just been sprawled across. 

“Oh Tony there is one more thing. The Rouges; they’re back. They’re in government housing, I wouldn’t let them anywhere near here or the compound, and I still won’t, but the panel brought them back to help. They had to sign the accords though, that was non-negotiable. They also haven’t been able to contact anyone outside of the base, nor can they go anywhere.”

“Huh, so I won in the end anyway then,” Tony smiled but it was bitter. “I’ll deal with that never,” he said hiding a yawn behind his hand.

“Sleep well Boss, you deserve it,” Happy said, pushing down the urge to get up and hug his friend like Rhodey was currently doing, prosthetics wiring lightly. They didn’t want to smother him more than they had earlier, when he had first come down from space, weak and teary eyed. Between the three of them Tony had all but made up for the lack of affection while gone and would be happy to once again have a moment to himself to breathe and think of all that they had just told him. Also the man was in desperate need of a bath. 

“I’ll see you all in the morning.” Tony said, forcing his tired, old bones to work. 

Out in the hallway, standing watch was Nebula.

“I thought I told you to settle into your bedroom?” Tony said as she fell into step with his slow, uneven gait. 

“I didn’t want to be too far from you in case something happened.”

Tony shot her a small amused look. “Huh, I’m under your skin, you’re attached to me now.” 

She rolled her eyes but didn’t dispute the very human likelihood that he had become one of her people now. 

“Come on I’ll be in the next room so wash up and have a rest. Friday, baby girl, could you order some pizza for us please. Nebula have you been asking Friday when you want things?” Tony leant his weight against the back of the elevator as he spoke, letting his AI spirit him and Nebula up to the penthouse where she would be taking the spare room beside his. Normally it stood empty as Happy, Rhodey and Pepper had separate suites, or to use the more appropriate word, apartments, a couple of floors down. 

“Yes. Your,” Nebula paused and searched for the accurate word, “daughter is very helpful.” 

Tony smiled, the lift had arrived at the last stop and Tony eased out of his lean and let his legs bare his full weight. “Yes she is. Now, a bath is calling my name, if you need anything let me or Friday know, feel free to anything here. We’re safe.” 

Nebula nodded reaching out to clasp arms with the man and then let him go, watching as he worked his way toward the bathroom, talking to Friday all the way. She would not sleep, but to lie on something soft and protected by those she was growing to trust would be more than enough to recharge her. She was no longer cursed to float through space beside the dying body of her last friend, but still all was not right with the world. Now that she was alone she could relax, and she could grieve. 

……

The next day was spent tying up lose ends. Getting in contact with May to tell her what had happened. Telling her she was welcome, with Peters parents, to move into the tower. Telling her that he would be paying off her rent, that he wanted to do this one thing for the person that Peter had loved the most. Looking up Peters friends was the next course of action. But they were gone too. All that was left was their grieving families. 

Tony called the Keener residents. Harley picked up. Him and his mother and his sister were fine. They were some of the lucky ones. They had missed the man, worried for him the whole time, keeping up with Pepper and Rhodey and Happy was good, but it wasn’t the same. This fueled their decision to move to be closer to Tony, and living in New York while the world learnt how to move on was an even bigger incentive. No longer would the emptiness around their town haunt them. Friends and neighbors, once a part of daily life had now vanished. In three days Tony would send a jet for them. 

The Barton residence was called. No one picked up. 

Tony made call after call, checking on those that had made themselves part of his life. Those that needed to be checked on. The calls took half a day, and when he was done he laid out on the couch and closed his eyes. Around the penthouse Rhodey, Pepper, Nebula and Happy floated around, moving without purpose. In front of the couch in a row, sat the bots. They needed no attention, simply watching their creator as he let the tense strain in his body disappear into the couch. 

Of the people that Tony had spoken to, all had agreed to come to the tower to re-group Well those that didn’t work there already. After the Hydra/Shield info dump a lot of good people had been compromised, and so Tony had worked to bring them in. There wasn’t a 100% success rate, but many of those that had been in the field had been saved, and whole families had been moved and renamed. They were loyal to Tony Stark and to Iron Man and many of them had been invited into the tower to live and work, and those that did not fit were put in another building that had been built in the wake of the Ultron disaster, to get the Avengers out from under Tony. It was not the other Avengers though that had been moved into the building but rather those that they nearly killed.

Tony’s friends and collogues would begin trickling in later that day and would stay as long as they wanted. But before that Tony needed to go and check on the Barton farm. He needed to be sure that none of the children were there by themselves. The idea hadn’t occurred to him originally, but now it was a constant pulsing, ugly thought. 

He rolled off the couch, nimble in his haste. All eyes flashed to him and he waved a hand in nonchalance, waving off their concern. 

“I’m making a trip to the Bartons. Who wants to come?”

……

All five of them piled off the Quinjet and into the big open paddock, the bright afternoon sun beating down upon them all. The noise must have drawn the attention of Lucky, because the next thing anyone knew the big dog was tearing from the house and rushing toward them. What could have been a horrible fight turned into excited jumping and barking as he recognized the smell of Tony. 

“Hey boy how have you been? You don’t look unhealthy, though you could do with a bath.” Tony said running a hand up and down the dogs coat. Lucky woofed happily and leaned against the mans legs as he got the scratch of his life. “Who’s a good boy, you’re a good boy.” Tony said to the amusement of the others before he straightened, serious once more.

“Pepper you and Nebula look through the shed and around the yard, take Lucky with you. Happy and Platypus, you two look around the bottom of the house, I’m going to look around the upstairs.”

Tony wasn’t sure if he wanted to find something or not. He wasn’t sure which was the better thought. 

The first two rooms were empty. And the bathroom was as well. That left the nursery and the master bedroom. Downstairs Tony could hear the sound of doors opening and closing, and out the window in the empty nursery Tony could see Pepper and Nebula walking out of the shed Lucky padding after them, his nose to the dirt. Tony knocked softly on the closed door to the master, not expecting anyone at this rate. That’s why the woman lying across the bed was such a shock. 

“Laura?” Tony called, entering the threshold and hurrying to the woman. She looked dead for a moment before she stirred as Tony shook her. She turned, the bottle of Vodka in her hand clattering to the floor and her now free hand reaching up to cover her eyes, blocking the bright sunlight from causing what must have been a pretty fierce headache. 

“Laura, where are the kids?” Tony asked.

“Tony, have you come to take me away,” Laura murmered, slowly pulling herself up into a sitting position, hand still covering her eyes.

Tony got off the bed and pulled the curtains, plunging the room into cool darkness. 

“Yeah Laura. Where are the kids?” 

Laura looked at Tony in the dark and held back a sob. “They’re gone. All three of them. They just turned into dust and disappeared in the wind. My babies.” Her voice broke and so did her composure. Hiding her eyes again, this time for a different reason she bent over and began to sob, loud and full body. 

“Tones, is everything ok?” Rhodey yelled from downstairs. 

“I found Laura.” He called back leaving the room and moving to the stairs. “The kids are gone, its just Laura and Lucky left.” He said making sure that Laura didn’t over hear. “Get the Quinjet started and me and Laura will be with you in a moment.” 

He took the stairs slowly, stopping in front of the window to look out at the wide empty padocks. After Clint had left Laura had sold the animals, unable to care for them, and today that seemed like a blessing. There was nothing holding her here. 

She was asleep when Tony entered the room again, he’d only been gone about a minute so it was safe to say that she was still pretty drunk, that or all of the emotions had really taken it out of her. 

Tony pulled her up and into his arms, carfully easing her hand from where she had it latched into the blanket. He carried her easily down the hallway and stopped before the Nursery. 

“Do you want a hand?” Nebula asked. 

Tony spun around and nodded. “Could you carry her please, I want to get her some stuff. She can come back whenever she wants but she should still have some stuff with her.”

They transferred her easily and Tony went into the Nursery and then Lila and then Coopers bedrooms, picking something in each, the thing that was on their bed or seemed like a favorite. 

“Come, lets get her on the jet. The sooner we get her to the tower the sooner she can sleep off the drink.” 

Nebula nodded, looking down at the woman with curiosity as she followed Tony Stark down the stairs and out of the weird, empty house.


End file.
